Final Four Foods

It’s Final Four Tournament time and people across the United States are having their confab at their place — be it their house or renting a church basement or gymnasium — for their gathering or doing a tailgate at the facility where the tournament takes place.

We always recognize a state by what food it concocted. For instance, Ohio, our state, is known for the incomprehensible peanut butter buckeyes which resemble the nut of the aforementioned tree.

Unfortunately, an Ohio team didn’t make it to the Final Four this year.. (Better luck next time.)

This year, it’s Alabama, Connecticut, Indiana and North Carolina. I knew it would be an awesomely fun task to research the food of those aforementioned states. I’m just happy that our next door neighbor Indiana made it to the NCAA basketball finals and I’m glad at least one Rust Belt state did.

The one thing folks everywhere like to do is serve food while viewing the tournament. If you are hard-pressed for ideas, I say theme your food around the states that the teams are from. Here are my two cents that I want to put in your food spread.

ALABAMA

When you think of the South region, we think of sweet tea. McDonald’s and Burger King even have sweet tea on their menu in all regions of America. (My dad loves it, (JSYK)

Good old Alabama sweet tea

Prep time: 10 minutes at a minimum

Amount yield: one gallon

Cook time: 10 minutes at a minimum

Serving ratio: 16

2 cups of sugar (use super fine because it dissolves better)

One-half gallon of water

One tray of ice cubes

3 family-size tea bags of orange Pekoe tea (I would recommend Luzianne or Lipton)

3 cups of cold water

Instructions:

Step 1: Pour in the sugar into a large pitcher. Bring the water to a boil and then remove from heat and place the teabags in it. Let it steep for the maximum of 5 to 6 minutes.

Step 2: Remove the tea bags and use your squeezer to get the excess team from the bags and return tea to heat. Bring just to a boil, then pour into the pitcher until the sugar dissolves. Fill the pitcher halfway with ice and stir until its mostly melted. Then fill up the pitcher the rest of the way with cold water and stir until blended together.

CONNECTICUT

Of course Connecticut is known for inventing the cheeseburger and what is a good sports event without one? I don’t know a soul who won’t eat a cheeseburger. I’m gonna keep it pretty basic because the ingredients should be accessible.

Basic Burger:

One pound of ground chuck (I recommend 86 percent lean)

One tablespoon of soy sauce

One teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce

One package of buns (any brand you like)

One package of Kraft American cheese

Shape the patties to be one-fourth pound thick and make the patty bigger than the bun because it will shrink to half of the size and you want the patty to be the same circumference as the bun. Use either a pan, grill pan or a regular grill provided the weather is good. Cook for at a minimum of 3-4 minutes on each side and then top it with cheese until it melts. Use the toppings to your liking (you most likely have them on hand).

NORTH CAROLINA

North Carolina is in the NCAA basketball tournament this year and one thing that’s prevalent in the culture of all of the South — well, the ones that are in the proximity of a coastline — is fishing. The small fishing village of Calabash and Myrtle Beach bills itself as the Seafood Capital of the World.

Calabash Shrimp

Peanut oil for frying

2 large eggs

One can of evaporated milk or whole milk

One cup of self-rising flour

One-half teaspoon of salt

One-half teaspoon of black pepper

Dash of cayenne pepper

2 pounds of larger medium size shrimp - peeled and deveined (have your fish manager peel and devein the shrimp)

Tartar and cocktail sauce

Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches in a deep fryer or a deep heavy pot. Heat over medium high heat until the temperature registers at 375 degrees on a deep fry thermometer. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain the oil at that temperature throughout the frying process.

Whisk together the eggs and milk in a shallow bowl

In a second shallow bowl, whisk together flour, salt, pepper and cayenne

Working in batches, coat the shrimp in the egg mixture letting any excess drip away. Then coat lightly and evenly in the flour mixture.

Put the shrimp into the hot oil adding no more than one at a time that can float freely. Cook until the crust is crisp and golden brown — 2 to 3 minutes at the maximum depending on the size of the shrimp.

Transfer with a wire skimmer or slotted spoon to drain on a paper towel. Sprinkle salt on the shrimp while still hot. Serve at once with tartar and cocktail sauce on the side.

INDIANA

Or course, you really need a sweet of sorts and Indiana is known for its sugar cream pie. Does that name not say it all?!! This pie is sure to please your guests.

Sugar Cream pie is the state pie of Indiana. Hoosiers can attest to how awesome that pie tastes!

Hoosiers believe that this pastry treat with a creamy custard filling is anything but a pie in the sky.

Sugar Cream Pie

Use a pre-made crust to save time. I recommend Pillsbury or Marie Callender.

One cup sugar

One-fourth cup of corn starch

2 cups of 2 percent milk

One-half cup of butter (one stick)

One teaspoon of vanilla extract

One -fourth teaspoon of brown cinnamon

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, milk and cornstarch. Stir until smooth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and stir for 2 minutes until thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat. Pour sugar cream filling into the crust and bake 15-to-20 minutes maximum. Cool on a wire rack and refrigerate until chilled. Serve with berries as a topping.